Iron Phoenix

Envoy from America

"So he just turned off the lights and left you there?" Farley was howling with laughter. "That's a new one even for Roth!"

Kana couldn't help but smile slightly. It did seem pretty funny in hindsight. They had been sitting in front of the TV for the past hour, yelling at the contestants on some crummy reality show and eating a truckload of snacks.

"So how come you're not buried in work tonight?", Kana asked once commercials finally replaced an unfortunate man getting dunked in whipped cream.

"Eh? Mina hid my laptop. Said I had to take the weekend off – and just when I'm finishing a massive project too.", she moaned. "She really is the worst." A glint settled in her eyes. "You'll see it soon enough though. Man, it's going to be cool."

"What is it?", Kana asked, her interest suddenly piqued.

"Can't say.", she said, smirking. "But you'll see soon enough."

"Don't tease me like that.", Kana grumbled, lazily flinging a cushion at Farley's head.

"Oho, you're on!", Farley yelled, flinging one back, the brawl escalating until Farley was chasing Kana around the flat, brandishing a massive sofa cushion above her head. They continued this, flinging cushions back and forth, ducking behind furniture and generally causing pandemonium until Kana finally yielded, collapsing back in front of the TV, far too tired to even think about cleaning up the carnage she had just caused. Farley flopped down next to her as Kana checked her watch, startling at how late it was.

"I should get my stuff ready. I'm meeting someone tomorrow." Yawning, she clambered to her feet. "Don't worry, I'll pick all this stuff up."

"Nah, I'll do it. Training sounded thoroughly brutal today.", said Farley, with a grin. "Where are you going anyway?"

"You know the Commander's daughter?" Farley nodded. "Well, she invited me out for frappechinos - whatever they are."

Farley grinned tiredly, shaking her head. "Making friends already? I'm jealous."

***

The sun burned brightly overhead as Kana trotted down the bustling street, her phone bleeping directions at her. Though never one to care much for appearances, Kana had found herself staring at the mirror for over an hour that morning, trying on clothes and pulling her hair this way and that. She thought it rather self-absorbed, but for whatever reason, she really did want to make a good impression on Melissa. Still, for all her efforts, when she was sharing the streets with such brightly coloured, stylish people, she couldn't help feeling rather plain and shabby.

As she passed shop windows, she stopped a few times to marvel at their contents; mannequins dressed in new, rather garish looking fashions, a window stacked with nothing but perfumes, creating a glinting wall of crystal bottles whose facets reflected in a delicately blinding arc away from the window. There were tech shops, where Kana saw technology she'd only ever heard whispers about sitting casually for sale; holo-projectors, tiny, near invisible phones that fit in your ear, jewellery that could hold terabytes worth of data but still looked completely ordinary. There were even tiny model planes that were controlled merely by moving your hand, and Kana stopped to stare at the jet she flew, hovering around in miniature, only leaving when a crowd of young boys ran up, yelling excitedly about the new toys in the window.

Realizing that her staring had made her late, she hurried along to the café where she was supposed to meet Melissa. Stepping inside, she sighed as a blast of air conditioning washed over her and she headed further into the cool, dim space, smiling as she saw a familiar face poke out from one of the booths and wave her over. Still, as she slid into the booth, she quickly realised they weren't alone. Another person sat across from her; even sitting down, she could tell she was extremely tall, cropped blond hair and a dark jacket only adding to the aura of intimidation.